April 2013 - "Doesn't This Sound Familiar?"

So here we are – the beginning of the Summer term again. Just a couple of months and we will be cheerfully remembering the Olympic/Paralympics Games that took place last year. Well, that’s the idea at least. It has brightened up during the past couple of weeks and it seems to be getting warmer (it felt as though winter lasted a month or two longer this time around - I have never felt as cold for so long!)

In this latest update I am going to share with you the latest news that I have been able to gather about what is happening in the world of SEN. In this update you will find articles entitled:

PUTTING THINGS IN CONTEXT

THE CHILDREN & FAMILIES BILL

DRAFT SEN CODE OF PRACTICE

MY VIEWS AT THIS STAGE

RECENT/FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTS

LET’S TRY AND TOP THAT!

As I always say, please feel free to read only the sections that interest you or read everything. The choice is always yours. As this update was quite lengthy when I first drafted it, I have created a separate page and also a factsheet with more detailed information, just in case you need to know more.

I also sent out an interim update setting out answers to the most frequently asked questions about 'Secondary Transfers' in February 2013 which is on our website in case you missed it.

Here we are now at the end of April 2013 and most of these issues are still relevant. In the last couple of months we have seen the Government issue its’ Children and Families Bill (which came about as a result of the Green Paper/Ofsted review); we are still experiencing a recession and public funding cuts brought about by the Comprehensive Funding Review; and earlier this month there were stringent legal aid cuts affecting a number of social welfare areas including education.

It is very tempting to simply refer you to my previous updates but, if you are anything like me, you will want someone to try and summarise everything for you. Context and history are also very important so, although I am going to try and tell you here where we are now with the Children and Families Bill, I have also prepared a separate page here analysing the ‘Recent History Of SEN Issues’ during these past few years.

THE CHILDREN & FAMILIES BILLOn 4 February 2013, the Government issued the Children & Families Bill, Part 3 of which will cover the new legal duties for children with SEN in England. The whole Bill runs to 184 pages. It is divided into nine sections as follows:

Part 1: Adoption of children ‘looked after’ by local authorities

Part 2: Family justice

Part 3: Young people in England with special educational needs

Part 4: Child minder agencies etc

Part 5: The Children’s Commission

Part 6: Statutory rights to leave pay

Part 7: Time off work: anti-natal care etc

Part 8: Right to request flexible working

Part 9: General provisions

You can see that it covers many things as well as SEN. If you want to see it in full for yourself you can do so by clicking here. There is also a way of getting email updates about the Bill's progress through Parliament by signing up here. I have concentrated on Part 3 in relation to SEN and have tried to briefly outline here what the Bill says for children and young people in England with SEN (with thanks to my colleague, Logan Ormerod, who did an internship with us earlier this year).

THE DRAFT SEN CODE OF PRACTICEWhilst everyone was still considering the Children & Families Bill, at the end of March 2013 the Government also issued an 'indicative' draft SEN Code of Practice (with less fanfare) together with some other documentation. Rather than add to this already long update, I have summarised the new draft SEN Code of Practice as best I can on a factsheet (again with Logan’s help) – which you can download here - 'The Draft SEN Code of Practice – March 2013 (summary)'. You can also read it in full here.

MY VIEWS AT THIS STAGEPersonally, whilst I agree with the basic aspirations for change, I think that we still have to recognise that the issue of SEN is still an emotive one in which there is always going to be an inherent tension. Parents understandably want the ‘best’ for their child but LAs still only have to provide them with an ‘adequate’ education. This is made especially hard with everyone strapped for resources.

Parents often say that LAs are short-sighted because less provision may cost less now but cost more to the state in the future, whereas more provision may cost more now but cost less to the state in the future. LAs though often say that parents don’t understand the dilemma of limited resources but extensive statutory duties and are sometimes unrealistic.

The main concerns that I have are four-fold:

There seems to be both a delay and quickness of change (which sounds a bit contradictory) without the ‘Pathfinder’ trial results in yet (you may need to see my page on ‘Recent History of SEN Issues’ if you do not know what ‘Pathfinders’ are); and therefore;

There seems to be insufficient evidence at the moment to make wholesale change by September 2014;

Where will the funding for changing the SEN system come from?; and

Will EHC Plans just be statements by another name but now go up to 25 and still only focus on education?

What I do know is that no-one has a crystal ball to look into the future. I have also found that, although I specialise in SEN cases and have done so for well over 15 years, I still sometimes struggle to keep up with what is going on, so I wonder sometimes how parents/schools/LAs are expected to manage/present cases. There is also more case law to have regard to, more potential issues to resolve and more potential consequences to consider.

It is perhaps arguable that if we just have to leave it to the SEND Tribunal to decide at an appeal hearing in favour of parents or their LA, we may have already effectively failed (as we should have been able to resolve the dispute earlier).

We shall still have to wait and see what actually happens in September 2014 or whenever the Children & Families Bill is eventually implemented.

RECENT/FORTHCOMING SEN EVENTSIf you have received my updates before, you already know that I like to use them to also draw attention to recent and forthcoming events concerning SEN which may be of interest to people.

As mentioned in my January 2013 update, I trained Kids London SEN Mediators that month where I enjoyed discussing the benefits of mediation in SEN cases. I think that mediation is going to play a significant role in the future. I also spoke again at the 'Jordan’s Annual SEN Conference' in March 2013 which was well attended as it is every year. They are now booking for next year’s conference on 5 March 2014 in London.

I didn’t make it to the ‘Kidz in the Middle’ exhibition in Coventry as I had hoped in March 2013 but I know that there will be ‘Kidz South’ on 13 June 2013 in Reading. Other things to watch out for are 'Naidex National' (the disability exhibition) that runs from 30 April – 2 May at the Birmingham NEC and the Transition Event 2013 on 23 May 2013 at the National Motor Cycle Museum in Birmingham.

LET’S TRY AND TOP THAT!As always, I like to end my updates on a lighter note or by sharing some personal news.

Do you remember that I called my January 2013 update ‘We’ll Never Have a Year Like That Again…’ and the final section was entitled “Go On – Top That!”? In it I told you how, during 2012, aside from volunteering at the Olympics and Paralympics, I had done three bike rides for charity using a specially-modified recumbent trike (for those of you who don’t already know I am physically disabled and use a wheelchair). This included cycling from coast to coast in Sri Lanka and raising over £30,000 for Norwood, a charity for children with disabilities. I also told you how, on my return, I received an ‘Unsung Hero’ award at a posh lunch and when I came down off stage I was congratulated by a good friend of mine with the words “Go on – top that!”.

Well, that got me thinking for a few months afterwards about how we should always try and ‘up’ our goals in life. I have therefore decided that I am going to try and ‘top that’ this year by doing four (yes I said 4!) bike rides and again try and raise a signficant amount of funds for charity:

- Two domestic ones like I did last year:

The ‘Nightride’ in June (from Alexandra Palace to Crystal Palace and back again over night) - 100 kilometres

‘Capital to Coast’ in July (from London to Brighton) - 120 kilometres

- And then two international rides this time:

You may remember how at the end of 2011 I rode 380km through the Negev Desert from Jerusalem to Eilat to cover the southern half of Israel. Well this year, at the end of September, I am going to try and do the northern half of the country (I’m not sure how long it is yet but it is again over 5 days)

Then, in October, I am going to try and cycle across the island of Madagascar (yes, I also thought it was just a children’s film too!) - 420 kilometres again over 5 days.

As ever, I will keep you up to date with news on SEN and what I am doing in my next update which will now not be until September 2013 (and then again in January 2014 as they coincide with the academic terms).

With good wishes

P.S. I always find it extremely helpful to learn more about what people think about these updates so please take a minute to tell me what you think by clicking on ‘April 2013 Update – Your Thoughts’. Many thanks in advance if you get the chance to do this.